Newsletter 26 November

Crunch time at the bank - help spread the word

While the media has been focused on the revelations about former Co-op Bank chair Paul Flowers, the Co-op Bank itself has been worrying about how to ensure that investors accept the proposed rescue plan. The first deadline is at the end of this week, and all votes must be in by the following week. No one really knows what will happen if the investors don’t vote for the plan. If they accept then there will be rapid movement to seal the deal with the hedge funds. Save Our Bank could have an important influence on how that works.

It is vital that Save Our Bank campaign can speak for as many customers as possible. Thousands have already signed up but the next week is crucial and we need your help to reach critical mass. Then we can push for our aims: a way to ensure that whoever owns the bank implements customer-led ethical polices, and plans an eventual return to co-operative majority control.

We are asking all supporters urgently to take action:

Please Forward this email to 10 people you know who might bank with the Co-op, and ask them to pass it on.

If you're a social media user then

Tweet now, asking people to visit our site and sign up to the campaign:

Support #saveourbank campaign, sign up at http://saveourbank.coop and help us make the #CoopBank stick to its principles

Contact your Facebook friends and ask them to sign up to the campaign:

Let’s all support the Save Our Bank campaign to make the Co-op Bank stick to its ethical principles - sign up at http://saveourbank.coop

No change to Save Our Bank message

The revelations about Paul Flowers have shocked many people but Save Our Bank supporters already knew that something had gone badly wrong at the bank. Whatever the promised enquiries discover, the bank has new managers and will soon have a new ownership structure. Our priority is making sure it sticks to its principles and that the door is left open to an eventual return to co-operative majority control. We still say to customers: don’t switch yet, join our campaign. We can make a difference.

Bank proposes way to fix ethical principles

New proposed articles of association were published by the Co-operative Bank on 14th November. These have generally escaped media attention because of the furore about Paul Flowers. We welcome some aspects of the articles such as the creation of an ethics committee, but we do not think it will be enough to withstand the commercial pressures in the bank while it is majority owned by private investors. We need to push for a real ethical policy guarantee.

More organisations back our Ethical Declaration

Our Ethical Policy declaration has now been signed by 20 NGOs and other organisations that use the Co-operative Bank, including Oxfam, Greenpeace UK and Friends of the Earth. If your organisation would like to support the declaration, sign up here.